Trade
by Chiharu-Chan
Summary: She had nothing to bestow, and he had nothing to lose. But in times, both of them found each other. "My bestfriend traded for heart, for a scorpion plushie." Mari x Nichrome. Macchi's POV. One-shot


EDITED: Thanks to Meinee-chan, for pointing out my mistake. Mari accidentally used "I" on her 3rd to last line. HOW could I have left that out? The horror!  
  
Yeah, yeah. I'm getting a little ahead of my self. But these inspirations just keeps on coming! I want to get as many of these one-shots uploaded as possible.  
  
Anyway, this is -ANOTHER- Mari x Nichrome fic. "It eats my brain out, and I love it", a lovely quote from Birdie. Anyway, this is Macchi's first person point of view. I just wanted to state that, before any of you guys gets confused.  
  
Disclaimer.. I do not own Shaman King  
  
Trade  
  
By: Chiharu-chan  
  
There was a period of time, where the only boy in Mari's life was Hao-sama. Of course, how could he not?  
  
With that waving standard and egos that could fill the room faster than gas, Hao-sama was definitely the coolest. Even through Mari and Kanna often fussed over how I don't respect him enough, all of us could still die for him. Evidentially.  
  
Not only that, he was basically the highlight of our life. By taking all of us in, Hao-sama proved his greatest endearment. Because: no one could stand all three of us at the same time.  
  
But even before Hao-sama was a factor, Mari and I had already been good friends. We played and chatted about everything. Even when the subject itself was just retarded, I could never get bored of Mari's reaction. To me, that's what makes her so interesting. I still remembered the day when the old Mari left, and was replaced with a new lovesick girl.  
  
It was the summer before the shaman tournament, Hao-sama had finally gathered all members of the crew.  
  
At the same time, the two of us were working part-time at the local supermarket. Partly to save some money, partly because we wanted to spend more time together.  
  
Then one day, this brunette boy with the darkest turquoise eyes came in. Neither of us had noticed him at first. That is, until he dumped his stuff on Mari's register.   
  
A sewing packet.  
  
No, it wasn't everyday that guys come in to buy only needles and strings.  
  
From the next register, I could somehow make out their conversation.  
  
"Is that all?" Mari had asked him.  
  
"Yeah, I think so." Was his rely.  
  
"Alright, the price is 890 yens." She said, handing him the receipt.  
  
In return, he grabbed her hand, making her yelp a little.  
  
I remember jerking around to see him looking down at her uniform name-tag.  
  
"Mari... Um." He said, taking the change and plastic bag. "That's a pretty name", before leaving.  
  
We stared at him.  
  
It wasn't till the next Hoshigumi meeting, that we met him again. But this time, he was wearing a weird sort of coat, like a judge's uniform.  
  
It turned out that he was Nichrome, the 20th priest from Patch.  
  
To tell you the truth, I didn't exactly trust him. I mean, how would an official judge go out of his way to help Hao-sama? And even though I still had my doubts, Hao-sama just shook his head, and told was to trust him.  
  
When I asked him about the whole sewing pack thing, he just laughed and pointed and Hao-sama.  
  
"My mantel was torn." Hao-sama had explained. "And I ordered everyone to fix it before I let my Spirit of Fire burn them to crypts."  
  
ClichŽ, was the first thing that had come to my mind. Of course, Hao-sama thought otherwise. Because from that day on, he started to send Nichrome to our workplace every time he needed something.  
  
But it wasn't that. Every time we took a break, Nichrome was there. He went from buying candies to toilet paper to floss. When you needed something, he was your man.  
  
Then, one day. He came in and went to the toys section, and came back to Mari's register with a Scorpion Plushie.  
  
Mari had blushed, and asked him what was it for.  
  
He smiled back at her, and said it was for his mother's birthday.   
  
"Oh, that's really nice, Nichrome-kun." Mari had said, packaging his plushie.  
  
"Yeah, my mother really like those." He had said.  
  
"Plushies? Mari likes Dolls."  
  
"Yeah, they're very fascinating."  
  
I had been busy at the time, helping a weird guy with an even funkier hair-do. I think he was either on drugs, or stalking Elvis. But he wouldn't shut up about how great his roads trips are, and how our store was one of the best he had seen on the many highways of his life.  
  
And -THAT-, was the reason I didn't hear the entire conversation.  
  
But by the time I had finished scanning Elvis dude's last idea, Mari had closed her register.  
  
I turned around, to see her sitting on her chair. Face flushing, she was holding the scorpion plushie.  
  
I handed the guy his bag, and walked over to her. "What's that?"  
  
"N.. Nichrome-kun gave this to Mari...." She had replied, setting the plushie on her lap.  
  
"Okay?" I shrugged, poking at its tail.  
  
But the reaction I got from her was unexpected.   
  
She pulled it up, and hugged it to her chest. "Mari is always going to keep this." She added, eyes bright, face all red.  
  
And that was when I knew.  
  
My best friend had traded her heart for a Scorpion plushie.  
  
-Fin  
  
Whaaa. I hate to comment myself, but I seriously love this story! (Alright Chiharu, that's enough self-praising for today. lolz) Anyway, here's some things that might be interesting.  
  
- The mantel is Hao's big cloak  
  
- Nichrome's medium is a Scorpion  
  
- The man Macchi was serving, was indeed Ryu. I just -HAD- to add that part in. Ryu is obsessed with road trip.   
  
I just can't get enough of Mari x Nichrome fics. And its weird, this couple is so non-canal, but everyone still loves them. Of course, everyone loves Mari as well.   
  
Anyway, I hope you liked it.   
  
R&R 


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